USA Today Unveils Page-Turning Digital Revamp

USA TODAY unveiled Friday new designs for its newspaper, website and mobile apps in time for its 30th anniversary this weekend.

The complete overhaul of the newspaper is designed to showcase USA TODAY's prowess in visual storytelling and bring "stronger voices" to its stories. The new logo reflects "the pulse of the nation," the company says in a statement.

The redesigned newspaper will be distributed starting Friday and the USATODAY.com beta site will go live over the weekend of Sept. 15th with a full launch later this fall.

"We are making a real investment in USA TODAY, and putting a major focus on reinvigorating the value of print media while introducing new digital products," says Larry Kramer, president and publisher of USA TODAY. "We want to provide our readers with a unique perspective and relevant context on a full range of issues, across all mediums. We are revolutionizing the way we cover and distribute the news in relevant ways that inform and entertain our readers."

Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY, launched the newspaper on Sept. 15, 1982, with the mission of providing news and information that was clear, concise and presented largely without opinion or unsubstantiated analysis. Its heavy integration of graphics and color photos in the pages, which was controversial at the time of the launch, went on to influence many U.S. and foreign newspapers to inject more style and color into their products.

The new look of USA TODAY is designed to take "visual storytelling to the next level" by displaying more color, photos and infographics, USA TODAY says. The States page will contain photos for the first time, while the Weather page will sport a cleaner look.

USA TODAY's new logo -- a large circle in colors corresponding to to the sections -- will be an infographic that changes with the news, containing a photo or image that represents key stories of the day.

Under Kramer and Editor-in-Chief David Callaway, both of whom joined the company this year, USA TODAY will increase the amount of original reporting in its pages and host more videos produced by the more than 5,000 journalists at USA TODAY and other Gannett properties.

The look and functionality of all digital platforms -- the website, tablet app, new Facebook app and new mobile apps -- also have been overhauled to facilitate bigger images and graphic-driven stories while presenting them in "a fun, engaging" way, the company says.

The web and tablet platform will also feature live video coverage, interactive weather mapping and more instant analysis and commentary. New user-control features will make customizing the pages easier for consumers.

"The redesign highlights stronger voices and further cements USA TODAY's status as one of the nation's premier news outlets that continues to reflect the American experience," Kramer says. "We are America's newspaper and we take that responsibility seriously."

Gannett shares were up 11 cents to $17.25 in midday trading Thursday and have risen more than 30% in the past three months.